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Alice Vol. 3 No. 2

Published by UA Student Media in Spring 2018.

Published by UA Student Media in Spring 2018.

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By Michaela Hancock<br />

For some, poetry recalls<br />

the often dreadful memories of<br />

annotating rhyme scheme, syllable<br />

count and figurative language in high<br />

school English classes. However,<br />

some students at The University of<br />

Alabama have a greater affinity for<br />

the art. Some discovered writing and<br />

performing their own poetry after<br />

already being involved in other arts,<br />

while others found it to be a release<br />

for teen angst, but they all share a<br />

love for the creative outlet provided<br />

by poetry and spoken word.<br />

Jahman Hill, a second year<br />

graduate student at The University of<br />

Alabama, started writing poetry when<br />

Poetry is so important as a<br />

means of expression, and the<br />

community building that happens<br />

when people come together over<br />

poetry is so beautiful.<br />

he came to college. Before that, he had<br />

written rap music, which he described<br />

as terrible, so he decided to try poetry<br />

instead. Hill is now a published<br />

poet whose book, Made From my<br />

Mother’s Ceiling was released earlier<br />

this year. He also travels the country<br />

performing his work.<br />

Kailey Webster, a University<br />

of Alabama junior, started writing<br />

poetry in high school. As part of<br />

the speech and debate team, poetry<br />

was her favorite event. She learned<br />

more about poetry and developed an<br />

interest for writing her own, which<br />

she began doing her senior year.<br />

Hill and Webster both joined<br />

The University of Alabama’s speech<br />

and debate team. They bonded over<br />

a shared interest in poetry and began<br />

attending poetry slams together<br />

where one or both were competing.<br />

However, they always had to travel for<br />

the slams, and they noticed the poetry<br />

scene as a whole lacked a presence in<br />

Tuscaloosa. Then on the way home<br />

from a slam in June, Webster had the<br />

idea to create their own presence in<br />

Tuscaloosa.<br />

“Let’s just do it,” Webster said.<br />

“Let’s make a poetry venue.”<br />

After making the executive<br />

decision to pursue this, Hill and<br />

Webster met with one of Hill’s<br />

close mentors, Dr. Utz McKnight, a<br />

professor in gender and race studies<br />

at the university. McKnight supported<br />

the idea and suggested that they go<br />

about starting a student organization.<br />

With his help with the logistics, Hill<br />

and Webster started the process of<br />

beginning a campus organization,<br />

still concerned about the potential<br />

lack of students’ interest in joining.<br />

“At the time, we knew of<br />

maybe two other people who were<br />

interested in spoken word or slam,”<br />

Webster said. “There was still this<br />

level of doubt of, ‘Is this something<br />

Tuscaloosa wants?’”<br />

Still they continued filling out<br />

forms and spreading the word, and<br />

in July they held their first event as<br />

the Alabama Student Association for<br />

Poetry (ASAP). The organization’s<br />

first big event, “ASAP Blitz,”<br />

happened in September 2017. The<br />

event featured a workshop led by poet<br />

and spoken word artist, Steven Willis.<br />

From there, ASAP started biweekly<br />

open mic nights at Monarch Espresso<br />

Bar. The open mic nights have<br />

68 <strong>Alice</strong> Spring 2018

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